Fairy Fencer F: Surpassing Divinity
by No-Idea-For-Name
Summary: Taking place after the chaos brought upon by Junown and the Evil Goddess, Fang and his partners encounter new enemies on their adventure.
1. Chapter 1: Fang

**Chapter 1: Fang**

"Galdo, what were you thinking idiot? You could have died from that stunt." I yell at him.

I know what you might be thinking. I should be happy that he's alive and that he sacrificed himself for us, but dammit I don't care. He made us really scared for him after that moment.

Galdo replies, "Hehe… sorry bud."

"Fang, can't you just be happy for one moment." My fairy partner, Eryn chimes in. I swear, she can be crazily annoying sometimes, but I let her go this time. After all, a master fencer like me has gotta keep their servant happy.

"Alright, whatever, just don't go doing stupid things all of a sudden."

Galdo raises up, removing the last bandage present on him. "I'm fine now, no more dumb stuff from me." Unveiled is a large scar on his belly, in an x formation.

Marissa, Galdo's kind and gentle fairy comes in. "Oh Galdy-kins, what did they do to you."

"Ah, don't worry Marissa, those guys can't break me." Galdo stretches his arms and puts on a large smile. "See, I'm already ready to go again."

"Hang on Galdo." I begin. Galdo's a tough guy, but I'm still suspicious. "You can't just shrug off injuries like this within a couple of minutes after recovery. If you fight, you'll end up just damaging yourself again."

"And then we'll have to wait for this whole process again." Eryn finishes my thought.

"Oh come on, I wanna go slay some real evil beasts."

"Well, I haven't forgiven you for your stupid act, so rest a couple of days, got it?"

It's true, I'm still mad about that. Although, I'm actually pretty happy that we got to see Galdo like how he used to be. Well, except for his large scar. Eryn and I begin leaving the hospital. Like always, I'm one step ahead of her.

"What are we going to do now, Fang?" She asks.

"Go to the pub and make some money. Maybe we can get Galdo something from the shop."

"Aww Fang. I knew you weren't all mad at him."

"Jeez, I do one thing that's nice and I get teased for it. Maybe we shouldn't get him a gift after all." You see what I mean by annoying.

"Wow, don't you do the same thing all the time." She laughs.

"Alright, alright, let's just get going already."

Accepting every quest we can from the pub, we head towards Sol Field. The large and grassy terrain is the perfect environment to fulfill all these quests with ease.

Then, me and Eryn do what we normally do, just slay every monster in sight and check back at the pub to see which quests we actually completed. Eryn argues that it's not the most organized way to do things, but she's too lazy to continually move locations for every quest, so we stick with my method.

An hour passes, uneventful, but relaxing nonetheless. "Alright, I think that's enough for today. Let's head back." I suggest. Eryn is out of my sword and following me in person instead.

We head home to the inn, but on our way, is the flower shop of Emily. Emily is the sister of Apollonius. Oh boy, do I sure have the history with that guy. Sadly for Emily, he's dead. He used to be one of Dorfa's greatest warriors. Eventually, however, he became addicted to the blood of the Evil Goddess, which he believed to be wine. He's such a stubborn idiot. I thought it would be real cool to have him on our party, but he was too blinded by honor to accept the antidote we gave him. Although he helped support us in defeating the Evil Goddess, it didn't have to go like this.

"Oh. Hey Fang. Hey Eryn." She says to us.

"Oh hey Emily, me and Fang would like to know if we could get some flowers." Says Eryn, making decisions on her own. I didn't even think of stopping by the shop, and have no idea she suddenly made the decision.

"Of Course, you guys can pick anyone you see."

I'm sorta afraid to talk to Emily. She could be mad at me for what happened to her brother. I didn't kill him directly, but maybe she believes that because I killed Apollonius in the own timeline, that would affect him negatively in this one.

Eryn, who I guess sees through me, whispers in my ear, with a harsh tone. "What are you doing, say something. You can't blame yourself for his death forever you know."

"Alright, I'll think I'll take this own." I reach for a dark purple flower, pretty big, so I only take one. "How much will it cost." I ask.

"You guys can have it for free, you've helped me and my brother out. It's the least I can do." She says, softly.

Normally, free things are awesome, especially when you have to pay for Lola's crazily overpriced products. Now, for whatever reason, it doesn't feel right. "I can pay for it, me and Eryn have plenty of money."

"That's surprising of you Fang. You always take free things." Eryn knows me pretty well.

"Fang, do you, perhaps… feel guilty for Apollonius." She stings me with a question, and I get a small panicking jolt. "You didn't do anything wrong, he's the one who made the mistake." It's clear that she's sad. I guess I would be too. I know the feeling of losing the people who mean a lot to you. I want to say something to her, but she starts moving to her room. "Please just take anything you like. Don't worry about me."

"Poor girl." Is all that Eryn says. I wouldn't be surprised if she's also lost.

We don't remain there much longer, but before we go, I drop some gold into the jar of donations. Eryn sees me, but I think she also feels the same way. Our departure begins as we walk out the door.

"Hey Fang, you ever get the feeling that we're being watched." Asks Eryn. She starts looking around us, hoping to find out what's driving her senses.

"That's sorta random for you to just spew out." I tell her.

"Yeah, but I just have this weird feeling, and a Fairy's intuition never lies." She looks generally worried, but she always gets worked up over nothing, so I don't really think anything's wrong.

"Well don't worry, you're with the one who defeated the evil goddess without any trouble, things will be…" I can't finish my sentence, due to the interruption of a dagger heading straight towards us. Me and Eryn manage, luckily, react quickly enough to move out of the way, with it only hitting my flower and pinning it to the ground.

"Quick, Fang, we gotta get outta here." Eryn and I start running immediately. As I turn back, I can't see anyone, but another blade heads toward us. In we want any chance of avoiding our invisible assailant, we have to run as fast as we can. Running in a panic, we take turns and twists to try and escape to safety. I set an immediate destination towards the inn. As we run however, not another blade is thrown. Eventually, we make it to the inn.

"What was that?" Eryn asks.

"Well whoever it was, we must have scared them off with our awesome power. They've probably lost track of us after the second throw and fled." I say. I'm not actually sure who our attacker was, or why they wanted us dead, but I guess there's a point of success where eventually others just become envious of you. Hey, if you want to challenge the mighty Fang, I'm more than happy to accept it, but you can't just sneak up on me like that. You have to say it right to my face.

"What on Earth are you two doing?" Says the second most annoying voice I've heard on my journey, behind Eryn, of course.

"Tiara, you wouldn't have had anybody thrown deadly weapons at you recently, have you?" Eryn asks, causing Tiara's face to show great confusion.

"What kind of question is that? What happened to you two today to warrant such curiosity?" Tiara seems both baffled and curious at the same time.

Telling her our story probably won't do much help, since I'm confused myself, but I Figure might as well. "Alright, so it all began when we walked out Emily's shop."

Tiara interrupts me like always. "Wait, why were you at Emily's shop?" Now, she was much more interested than before.

"Oh well, this is gonna take a while."

* * *

A/N: First time uploading on this. Any criticism, both negative and positive is appreciated. Preferably, I would enjoy if you say both what you like/dislike so I know what habits to keep and drop, but it's your choice.


	2. Chapter 2: Tiara

Here I was, enjoying one of Mrs. Fivestar spectacular meals along with a melodious cup of tea. Suddenly, I heard two bumbling idiots scream outside the inn. Nobody else makes that kind of ruckus around here, obviously, it was Fang and Eryn. Not only was there an interruption cutting into the fragile skin of peace, but Fang gave me some ridiculous story. Despite the story's outlandish content and Fang's dishonest nature, stranger things have occurred in the past. It's hard to make up a lie that's more unbelievable than a time-traveling expedition.

"Ugh, you two are always getting into trouble. Can't you just spend a day's time without getting someone to put a bounty on your head." I say, making sure my face shows the correct intentions.

"Hey, you know most people are just jealous of my power. No way am I just tossing all of this away." He responded, pointing his thumb back to his smiling face. Typical Fang, imagining himself with a crown when all he wears is an idiotic expression.

"You obviously couldn't save your own life from a pickle." Again, my scolding fails to reach him.

"Those are pretty ironic words coming from a butt that I had to save." His face lights up with a prideful glow that blinds one out of an unearned boast. Then, I am reminded, of the time where I died. Not of this life, but another. In less than a second, I catch a glimpse of Fang's face, having seemed to realized the time where he could not save me. "Whatever. Next time we see that guy, we'll face him head-on."

"Well, you won't win acting so stupid. Cui and I will have to accompany you." As I say that, Cui hops onto my shoulder. Out of all the other fairies, he shines out like a star. We never argue, as I travel on the dark path ahead of me, Cui makes sure never to leave my side, as I make sure to never leave his. Certainly, a glorious sight compared to Fang and Eryn's constant strikes at each other's throats. Now, without even having to communicate, we exchange our beliefs through internal strings. "Well, nothing can come from just standing around, let's get going."

At the unmissable and colossal tower that reaches past the mountains and pierce the clouds, we stand before the Dorfa Corporation's headquarters. Walking through the prestigious and rich structures occupying the location, are both visitors and employees taking their own duties and travels. Interest takes my mind as faces which previously opposed us, are not displaying gratitude by the presence of us. It does come as reasonable for this situation to appear I assume, we did save them from bloodthirsty revenge.

Here, we have come to attain information on anything that might help us understand the situation. If anyone were to want our heads, they would most likely be a sympathizer of the society that we took down. If that was the case, they would probably have deployed their blades against Dorfa as well. Well, that and the fact that we could pick up some food on our way.

Anyway, through steps and steps of a seemingly infinite tower, we take the path to the where the heads of Dorfa hold their seats.

"You want to know if there were any malicious attacks on Dorfa associates?" Says Paiga, in a confused yet curious manner. "We haven't had any reports of that particular type of behavior, but it seems like your report is part of a series of many other strange occurrences." Our curiosity peaks up like a sprout emerging from the ground.

"Really? What's been going on?" asks Eryn with her face portraying a process of hypothesizing.

"Ravaging monsters, a cloaked figure, and even an account of another fury falling straight down from the sky." A fury falling from the sky, something like that hasn't happened since the battle of the Goddess and the Vile God. It seems there's a dark fog covering the world, clouding the peaceful nature of life, or at least how "peaceful" our lives could ever get.

"A fury, what the hell? Lola would have tried to rip us off that information by now. Oh yeah, thanks for saving us the money on that one by the way." Fang speaks in a mix of excitement, bewilderment, and lazy reluctance. Indeed, he can never take the time to sculpt some caution of himself.

"No problem, you guys have helped my family and me make it out of the Justice Society's rage. Your friend and her fairy are actually on their way there right now." With little doubt opposing my certainty, that friend is Harley. It makes sense, as she was the one to make it clear through passionate energy and shouting acclaims that she was ready to explore. Now, it seems as though particular circumstances call for a reunion.


	3. Chapter 3: Harley

Brushing through lush green fields, It's almost as if my own body is a compass for discovery. I can't contain myself to any chains of hesitation or consideration. "For Science!" is not only the goal, but the reason, and the excuse for my methods. Nobody has ever regretted learning something, have they?

"Harley! Put your pants on! You know other people are going to be arriving as well!" Screams Bahus loudly, like a father scolding their child for recklessly marking their house wall with scattered blobs of ink, a square tone trying to fit in such a circle and insignificant situation.

"Oh come on, I search better when undisturbed, we're almost there anyway!" It's true. Also like a compass, I work best nude.

"It's BECAUSE we're getting closer that you really need to get dressed. With something so miraculous you have to prepare for potential conflict. You're not the only one who'd be interested in a brand new fury." As much as it hates to give into the cluster some cloth, I've trained Bahus well enough to trust him on that. So I drop myself farther into the burning heat as the burns trap themselves like insects between my skin and leather.

We press further, hopping over puddles and roughly sliding under trunks of both recently and anciently dead trees, some of which fell by our own blade. As the distance between myself and the hill in front dissolves, my view of it clears as if a resident were wiping clean their window. My assumptions fall down to their brick, and it becomes clear that this is no hill, but a crater, the flat top unveiling its cloak.

"Come on! We're finally here!" Bahus will have to catch up to me, because all the time journeying has only stored up fuel for this moment. I thrust my legs from one elevation to another without even a second between the jumps, the incline growing steeper through distance. When my velocity shows promise, I make one more jump before clenching my fingers on the ledge and pulling myself past the earth to lay eyes on what it lay secret.

"Harley, Calm down! You don't know what could happen!" Bahus is right again, but this time it doesn't matter. The fact that I don't know what could happen is exactly why I must hurry, so that I can learn. You can't tell someone to avoid drinking water because it's wet. I have no time to consider his actions, so I only listen to his sigh that I can only presume is reluctance.

Out of all my years of studying furies and the world in general, never before have I seen something like the one in the middle of the crater, it's burning itself into my eyes like an abstract art piece. A dark blade violently pierces the ground, imitating the stance of a sword pierced through the heart of an enemy. Standing apart from all other furies which I've seen, the makeup is organic, only something that could have come from a being of blood, a dragon specifically. Scales and muscles twisted into a weapon, sharp on both sides. Without even looking, I can tell Bahus is just as shocked by the site,

Curious of its origin, I can't help but grow suspicious of my original assumptions "This is a fury?"

"Despite being a fairy myself, I don't think I could tell you. To be honest, if you can't tell, I don't know anybody who could." Bahus focuses on the entity with cautious eyes. "But whatever it is, It's not normal, and not something we should trust blindly." Ignoring his warning, I raise myself over into the interior, letting my feet slide down the slope. What should be a gentle fall is contested by more unearthly behavior, as my feet refuse to let themselves to the pull of gravity. As magnets of the same polarity, a repulse pushes back against me, summoned through the hands of the blade.

"Bahus, come feel this." I request. Every once in a while I need to make sure that my discoveries apply to more than just myself. He slides down as well, before I can see that he too reaches an early stop.

"It's not too much right here. Only enough to turn a downhill battle into one on a plateau." I explain to him, ready to reach farther. As I presumed, the harder you push forward, the more this blade likes to fling its spite back. "but here, we're fighting an uphill battle." As I stop reaching, I do not even have to need to retract my arm, as force brings it back, the almost violent shock of a chain pulling my wrist faster than the eye can blink.

Bahus's patience has been drained to an empty glass, "We can't go further than this, let's call Fang and the others before we get ourselves killed." He warns.

"You're right, there's no way for us to continue researching at this point. Maybe they've got the strength to grab this thing, and maybe we can see if they've seen anything similar" I concede.

My partner sighs, although it seems like he's not surprised. "Is that really the reason you're agreeing, You really are persistent no matter the situation, aren't you. You would probably object despite the danger if you could actually reach this thing."

"Oh come on, had I got my hands of this discovery, I still would have agreed with you." I begin to retort with a smile "Truth be told, I really look forward to a reunion with my friends."

A/N: Sorry for such a long delay. I won't even try to give any excuses. I haven't written in months, so I hope I can keep improving from now on.


	4. Chapter 4: Eryn

Spreading our view from atop of hills, we look for what is any sign of a fury. It feels like we've been searching for miles, continually interrupted by creatures just desperate to throw themselves into our fire. What originally were dangers testing our determination to cross have just become a chore to handle.

You know, despite how much it sucks having to dump our coins or sell our stuff, Lola's Intel seems well worth the sacrifice now. "Ah geez, let's just head back and see if we can get some better directions," I complain. Taking the trip back and forth will save us time from mindlessly walking in circles.

As I expected, no suggestion of mine can go without an instant objection from my partner. "No way! We've already been searching, it's gotta be super close by now!" The voice comes in the ear through groups of bells, all unorganized and not even standing properly aligned.

"Ugh! This is the fifth time you said that, and every time I swear I see the same exact tree." I yell.

"What! At most it's been 3." says Fang, crossing his arms. He's showing a tower made up of confidence, but one built on the grounds of mush stupidity.

Although I like to believe that my mind is open to any criticism, but by no means is Fang in the position to criticize me in basic counting. "How Stupid can you be. This tree has a mark slashed into it, had you been paying attention, you would know it's been more than 3." I know arguing will be futile, but I can't just let Fang run away with trophies for his display of ignorance. If he's going to be wrong, I'll just have to stick with him through it all.

Tiara, who had been stretching her head above the horizon in search of any hint of direction, now twists her body to face us with irritation."Why does every argument between you two have to end up in something trivial? We have no idea where we're going and now you're fighting about who counts better." Just because we've all grown closer doesn't withhold each other from stepping on each other's toes, which Tiara has a made a habit of.

"Oh don't pretend you don't do the same thing! In fact, you probably do it much more than me anyway!" When my counter strikes her ear, irritation sprouts up to offense, as her face floats in disgust with the idea that she's been more of a bother than myself. When someone is mentally stricken by the idea that you're simply an equal, that damage always reflects back to yourself. Does she really think that I'm the annoying one of the group?

"Even if I did do that, you've done it almost three times as much as I have!" She says.

In both an interception to any objections I could have given, but also a savior to what is an entire mess, heavy gunshots fly into the atmosphere with no will to slow down, and no with on muffle to quiet its thundering voice. From plentiful hills ahead, several more go are released, piercing the clouds. They carry with them messengers of deja-vu, which whispers a familiarity into the ear. Without a doubt, we've heard these shots before from a carefree enthusiast of discovery.

In accidental unison, we say "Harley."

Now all facing the fire instead of stubborn faces, Fang is quick to change priorities from this to that. "Guys, guys. Can't we just focus on what's right, rather than who's right." In all honesty, he's right, but sometimes it just hurts letting him walk away all on his own like that, thinking he's just the coolest guy ever, so I can't help but challenge him on that statement.

"You know, Fang. That's pretty wise of you, but if you could stick true to those statements when it actually matters, that would be pretty cool." I say, in a supportive yet doubtful tone.

"Hey, don't think I won't." he says confidently.

"I'll keep you accountable, and you can buy me a meal the second you break your word." I return, willing to benefit off any broken promises.

"You buy me a meal when you see I can keep this, and you've got yourself a deal."

"Deal."

Now our feet march with proper direction, getting increasingly closer to the mystery of this fury. A fury that fell from above in a time so much further ahead on the timeline from when the Goddess and Vile God engaged in a violent war for whose hand would shape the earth and the fate of its people. I can only suspect that this phenomenon has its roots planted from the soil of our encounter with the Evil Goddess. We would be fools to expect nothing to come from her fall, yet we could not tell what flowers would grow from the grave which she lay. I'm fortunately in comfort knowing that Harley's shots show no panic.

Eventually, we arrive at a hill, or at least that's what it seemed to be at first. Now it's clear that it's a crater, as Harley's certainly within there. We quickly climb up, eager to see what lies within.

At the top of the crater, Harley pulls herself over from the exposed earth to the lush green, grinning brightly at the sight of our company. "Just as I expected, they're here, Bahus, you should have believed me! Come on, guys! We've just made a discovery for the ages!" She demands, ready to share her passion freely. I guess she had already assumed we would be looking around this time, which I don't know if I should take that as her being very observant or us too predictable in our actions. Normally, we would have assumed her discovery for the ages could have been learning what food is most popular between fairies, but today it seems like her claim is strong. As we rise, the center of the crater strikes my eye like a dark bird in the blight blue sky. What would have seemed like a sword, a common form of a fury, is plated with an organic but unnatural substance. As if pried directly from its body, the sword is covered all over with scales of a dark dragon.

Hoping that Harley would have done some investigation already, I ask "What is that?

Harley keeps on smiling. "Well that's a great question, and lucky for you, I know a fraction of the answer."

"A Fraction" remarks Fang. "Did you just get here?"

Harley turns to face him while shaking her head. "Nope, I've done everything I could already, but now that you're here, we might just be able to get more of that answer." Sh then twists her body while sharpening her hand and finger towards the anomaly. "That thing doesn't seem to like anyone's hand on it."

Shocked that such a thing could ever hold sentience within its soul, I ask her to clarify. "What do you mean?"

"Well, why don't you find our for yourself." She clears herself of the path between us and the mystery, inviting us to take up the mantle.

Fang stares into it with curiosity gleaming on his face. "Alright." He braces his body as he reaches forward to the dark and scaly hilt. "This better be good." This can't be all there is to it, but Fang shows no caution in his actions. I can only hope and place my trust in Harley's basket of confidence. Fang's grasp comes closer and closer to grabbing the hilt, but as if stopped by a wall, his movement halts.

"What's wrong, Fang?" It was not like him to stop right near a finish line, even in the moments where a spiked pit lied right past. "Why'd you stop reaching?"

Fang grunts in frustration while forcing his legs back to force his upper body forward, "I didn't." He says in a struggling voice, how one would speak with barrels stacked upon their back, "This thing... it's pushing me away."

Confused, I close the distance between us, floating closer towards him. As I do, however, I feel repulsed from the sword through the same strength as a raging gust of wind. Even when I fling myself forward stronger, the resistance matches. It's as if I was pushing down on a trampoline. "What is this thing?" I ask wincing and crossing my arms against my face before finally I'm launched back into the air before being dragged back down onto the rough earth.

"Eryn!" I hear Fang's voice shout before I face up to see that he too has been launched, and matching the shorter distance between him and the blade, with an impact greater than my own. "Aghh! Damn!" He shouts. Seeing Fang in pain just hurts to watch in itself, no matter the cause or how much I already anticipate it. As his partner, I can't stand aside without some form of duty clouding my mind.

"Fang! Are you ok?"

Rising from the ground and dusting off his shirt, he responds. "Yeah, just got a little roughed up." He turns back to the blade, eager to give it another shot.

Tiara, having caught the face of foolish determination on him, objects to his plans. "You aren't gonna try again so soon, are you? You'll get launched again."

"What? Didn't you see, I was so close last time, only around a hand's distance away. I'll give it one more go and boom! I'll have it right in my hands."

"Well, you're forgetting the fact that the closer you are, the more you'll be pushed back. Next time, you'll be flung past the clouds!" She gently places herself between Fang and the blade as a blockade, shortly and careful stepping on the tips of her shoes. "And who's to tell what will even happen when you do take its hilt, will it forcefully free your hands apart and eject right back into the ground?"

"Well..." Harley returns from simply inspecting our antics. "I do have something in mind I would like to test." Her smile displays a devious curiosity, a mad scientist with us as her lab rats. "This thing, if it's really connected to what that woman, Junown, said, then this is no normal fury." She proceeds to kneel, inspecting the sword from a safe distance. "It must have come from another world, where the Vile God, Goddess, and Evil Goddess originate as well. Apparently, the Evil Goddess was a barrier between us and whatever lies beyond."

My mind hurts picturing what could be beyond the world we know. For all I could remember, the Vile God and Goddess were the two supreme beings, far ahead in strength from any other being. That glass adoration was shattered by the revelation of the Evil Goddess. We had miraculously swung our blades pierced the heart of the Vile God, who seemed invincible. But just at the peak of our power, we were then forced to harness the power of the Goddess itself if we wanted to survive the strikes of the Evil Goddess. Like diving into the deep sea, reaching for the bottom, only to find trenches within trenches that drag you into the darkness, there was always something more. Junown warned us that the presence of the evil had actually been holding a shield over our world, and without her, we became a luxury drumstick tossed into a pack of lunging wolves.

"So," Harley continues. "Since Eryn is connected to the Goddess, her power might just be enough to match that of this stubborn subject."

The blade remains standing in its menacing atmosphere. Challenging its might with a display of the Goddess's light might be the only option, a hope to extinguish a grieving shadow with the burning flame of a candle. I spring my floating body to face Fang, whose face also twists to meet my eyes. I see a silent acceptance through an anticipating look for confirmation from me, which must be what he sees as well.

"Alright." We say in unison. "Let's do this."

Harley claps her hands gleefully standing as high as she can like an innocent young girl on her birthday. She clears the way before we engage this anomaly in a duel to blast a hole right through this invisible wall. Fang takes his blade and thrusts forward his arm as if piercing the sky, while I gently float to fill my part of the job.

Bringing myself close to him, I can feel our power linking through a spark, expanding multiples times grander. A swirl of wind surrounds us, and the difference between our senses dissipates into the fog and our consciences merge to form a more definite shape. With all the mysterious activity within this process, one would expect it to feel the same way, but right now, everything feels natural, and simply another part of life. Eventually, my sight and his are no different.

Preparing our voices, we bring ourselves in before we prepare to snap all the chains.

"Fairize!"

We shout with all our might, pushing our weapon further above while charging our chest forward. We unleash a lashing wind scooping up the coarse dirt before launching it above the barrier's edge. This wind is far surpassing the blade's, at least from the furthest distance we've reached. If we couldn't beat this thing now, then there would be little hope to do it any other way.

"Alright!" We say, bending our right arm back in preparation for a lunge and withdrawing our weapon. "It's now or never!" Mimicking a shooting star flying as the hope of many amongst the constellations, we pierce right through the blade's shield as cannonballs against a ship's flag. Eventually, we prove superior, and our fingers lay upon the hilt of this dark menace.

An internal triumph rings within ourselves, but a monster's size can often be hidden under the sea. Although breaking the glass of this showcase may have been relatively easy, lifting the exhibit is not. The blade fights back against its raising, unwilling to show what lies within the ground. Fierce weight calls for a shear force, as we put all our energy against the blade, unwilling to let it rest. The Blade is stubborn, forcing sweat and the sting of needles to form around the body despite our supposedly immense strength.

Unlike the power of its repel, the weight has a weaker vengeance, as bit by bit, it unearths from its chamber, exposing tiny bits of its dark texture through each attempt at a pull and having more of its invisible chains snap away as it progressively feels lighter and more willing to raise into the air. Eventually, the blade is at its last rope. With one last lunge towards the air, the last connection from the sword to the ground dissipates, allowing the dark entity to feel the free atmosphere and expose all of its mysterious darkness. as suspected, the previously curtained portion is mirrored off the rest, coated in the scales of a dark monster all over, reflecting the fierce and intimidating presence of a winged beast within a fraction of the size.

The push has disappeared, having silenced its roar through its release. Despite having shattered the invisible wall, Tiara, Harley, and Bahus are yet to move, some with shaking legs through hesitation. After all, this bomb still could have yet to let loose its final blast.

Twisting our arms and the scaled sword, we inspect every particle of it while laying one hand on the flat side. Our fingers brush upon the rugged skin, sensing its sturdy pattern while it resists any pressings onto it, feeling as if we were grooming a living beast.

"Amazing! I know I could count on you two to get this operation working." Harley says, breaking from observance, clapping at our success. "Let's get this thing to Dorfa's lab, I'm sure that they'll let me borrow all of their tools."

"Is that really all?" Tiara asks, suspicious of our safety. "What I'm wondering is if there isn't anyone already out here as well."

"Well, whatever, we got the job done, and why would you ever complain about a job being easier than expected," Fang Says, as our consciences return to two beings. The sharp armor covering Fang begins glowing like a tiny star before dying out as all stars do. Eventually, my vision splits from his body, and I'm back floating above the ground right beside Fang.

"Phew. I'm just glad we can rest another day knowing we're safe." I let our in relief. Initially intimidated from this dreadful power, I feared a greater power would cast its shadow, but today is another day were live our lives.

Just about as fang lifts his feet to lead the way, a fierce stomp of dirt unexpectedly booms from behind our backs, causing all of us to turn around in a shocking jump.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." follows the sudden scare. The voice is unfamiliar, firm yet condescending with a high pitch of a female pressing its sturdy voice on our ears. Gazing down at us, at the peak of this crater is a figure, not much taller than Tiara, cloaked in blank cloth obscuring its face and leaving behind little to identify itself as. "This world is in far more danger than you realize. The people are sitting within the mouth of a beast too powerful for any hope to hold down its teeth." The figure holds a threatening pose against us, tensing its arms while clenching its barely visible fists. There is a brief silence as we are both left to analyze each other.

Staring back at the cloaked being, I question their presence, curious about their estranged preaching. "Wait a minute, what you're saying, this is what Junown was saying as well." Suddenly, as I had dreaded of, we learn that woman was not alone in her scheming. "Don't tell me you're a partner of hers!" I yell, both in fear and anger, knowing that this person may be just as capable as her.

"Partner? No, I would never like to consider her a partner. That woman was given a job that was far beyond her competence, and she took it as a chance to try and use the Evil Goddess's power as the strings of her puppet show. I'm simply here to do what she could not." The shadow-casting mystery exposes its motives. Unlike her face, she reveals her intentions with a reflective gold frame to catch the eye of even the color blind, speaking of it as if it were their most prized possession. "Now it seems that what I have been told was true, the Goddess's power is much stronger than we had initially believed. You were able to remove my toy with relative ease once you decided to lift your chains." It slowly and steadily raises its fingers from its hips to point down to the sharp and shadow-coated weapon. "After all, not many can simply lift Judicium like that"

"Judicium?" Fang asks, with his eyes targeting the same object. "You mean this thing?" Fang asks in his naturally daring voice.

"Yes. That thing, like your partner, has a name." They reply, with annoyance caught in the voice. "Now that you've had your fun, I'm afraid that I need it back."

Fang, illiterate to any letter of command, retorts defiantly with his chest arrogantly puffed "Me? Return this to you after you've already made it clear you're up to no good? Not in a million years."

The one under the cloak brings its fist in to recreate a crushing motion. "That was no request, I simply stated my intentions. Whether you are willing to comply or not will not deter me from doing what I must to save those too weak to defend themselves."

Those words hit us all in the head as an insult, whether intentional or not. Unwilling to let her continue further, I take my stance. "What do you need to do to defend this world? When we defeated the Evil Goddess, we promised all our friends that we would protect the world." The memories of their spirits deliver both feelings of tragic loss, but also the vision of their soul moving on to a better place. We took upon a great duty that day, but if it meant letting all of those souls leave with a smile, knowing that they could leave their loved ones in safety, we would take on any challenge, making it all the more insulting that their martyrdom against the evil Goddess be disregarded by anyone. "We did not watch people sacrifice themselves to free the world of Junown's control only for someone else to replace her, We have the Goddess's power on our side, we can defend the world without your twisted power!"

Before responding, the slit of the hood turns away from our gaze and up towards the sky. "Evil... what you saw may have been evil, but you have only opened up a vacuum for a bigger fish. You cannot compare the death of corrupt corporations and rebels to the mass terror and torture of those who are innocent." The arm stretches up as if to grab the clouds and stars. "The death of Dorfa and those who rebelled, no matter how tragic they seem, were necessary to prevent that fate from spreading like a contagious plague."

With a sullen voice, induced by such lack of hope, Harley asks "How can you be so sure of this danger when we haven't seen a single sign of anything besides you."

Tiara joins in our retaliation, staring up to the being which holds thin and blood-stamped letters of dark materialized doubt between its fingers. "If it means another journey of selling your soul to wine or hysterical executions, then we'll gladly take the responsibility of a deity to protect this world with our own hands."

Meanwhile, Fang is in no mood to engage in such attempts at reasoning, staring into his now clenched fist with narrowing eyes and soft frown forming. "Necessary?" His fist begins shaking, matching the strength of the riled fire within him. "These deaths were Necessary?" He lifts his face from his fist to his enemy as if their willingness to stand after such words were a taunt to more than just him. "You don't know when to shut your mouth don't you... Whatever you have planned, just know you we won't just let you kill more people than you've already had!" Fang shouts with such a burning passion that you could swear a fire would start along with his attention-demanding roar.

The mysterious presence seems unfettered, stance still sturdy and towering, but its patience seems to come to an end as it bends it legs, forcing them against the peak of the land and launching themselves to buildings above the air back down in front of us, the impact creating another, smaller crater at the feet. The atmosphere has shifted from the mists of unknown outcomes into the swirling twister of imminent combat. "I should have known better than to argue with those who would never understand. Now, one more time, the blade." The hand stretches out flat, waiting for the hilt to be laid.

Fearing what could happen, I intervene. "Not on my life! Fang, don't let her have it." Fang seems to have already agreed before I spoke, bending his right side as to distance it from the hand.

As should have been expected, this decision does not bring a diplomatic resolution. "Then, unfortunately, I must commit to force." After a single blink, the cloaked figure shifts from a calm receiver to invoking the offense, challenging Fang's grip with her own on the scaled hilt. As if the blade were cooperating against Fang, his fingers are violently released, falling into the sole possession of the foe, before bunting swiftly into the head of Fang, creating some distance.

"Ughh!" Fang shouts, surprised by the amount of power condensed into such a small strike. "Eryn!"

"Bahus!"

"Cui!"

There's no turning back towards talking, now there is only the turf of battle beneath our feet. Whether we want to fight or not, It's time for us fairies to link with our fencers.

Tiara lunges with her glaive towards the dark blade, only to be punished for an insufficiency with her strength. The recoil leaves her arms flying back and body exposed. In an offensive counter, the cloak follows arms and body swinging to deliver a slice from hip to shoulder. "Aghhh!" She shrieks, launched to the curve of the ground and bouncing violently with her back into the ground.

"Without the power of the Goddess, you can hardly stand a chance, how can you expect to save the world at this rate."

Harley, hoping to seize the chance of overwhelming the opponent, fires rapidly onto them, only for the shots to be halted by the scales. Harley, with the knowledge of imminent danger, changes her face from one of hopeful focus to anticipating regret. "Uh oh." is all that she can say before feeling the response of her attack. The one under the hood grips both hands onto the hilt, raising them from knees to chest then past the head and the slicing-edge is slams violently into the ground, creating itself a hole like before and using it as a heart does a vein. A dark surge of fire follows, with a slight blue tint hidden amongst the contrary shadows of the flame.

Traveling swiftly, the flame captures Harley's leg despite her attempt to pull away, covering it for only less than a second before disappearing without a trace. Despite the low time, the wincing plastered on her face and sudden bending of her knee tell of the power.

"Damnit! Are we going to have to use more power this early!" Fang says with frustration coating his voice with a rough and untamed tone. Unwilling to sit back and let himself be prey to this foreign power, he prepares to offer a much greater challenge. "Sorry, we might have just used this power, but unless we wanna get swept away, I'm gonna need all the remaining power you've got, Eryn!" That calling is enough to commit to what I've already been thinking. It's not a good tactic to unleash everything at the beginning, but if we don't there might not be anything beyond this.

Fang holds his blade in front of him, shutting his eyes as to sink distractions and let the desire float. Suddenly, as I join into this focus, the blade fills with light. Layers of metal coat Fang's body, some emitting light while others reflect. Plates make us pseudo-wings, both at his back and each leg. His eyes return open before being coated into a similarly designed visor.

The shadow-filled void under the enemy's hood faces our vibrant shine, a showcase of the Goddess's power. "It seems that I will be able to test this power much more than I had initially planned." Our stance begins to mirror each other when both arms twist the blades to point daringly towards the other, awaiting and preparing a strike.

"Enough of your snobbish talk, we'll knock that blade right out of your hands." Breaking the standstill, we bend our legs before pushing out harshly, leaving a scrapped surface at our feet's positions before speeding straight ahead into the enemy. We swing the blade from behind our shoulder straight down, but our burning slash is met by a similarly passionate slash perpendicular to our own. Violent fires rush out from the sharp edges, a language used to communicate the scorching star within our hearts, unwilling to accept defeat to anyone. The scaled sword emits is own fire, choosing instead to burn with a black and dark blue to challenge our red and orange, and flies furiously out from the clash, the heat brushing against our cheek as the flames just miss our head.

Hungry for another opportunity to break the defense of the other, both edges slide against each other with withdrawing flames before thrusting our hands out again, once more clashing, now in an x-formation. Unwilling to accept another futile attack, Fang and I twist left slightly while pushing our hand slowly behind our body. Again, there is a flaming charge, but this time the fires force heat onto our arms much more notably. This wearing is far from damaging but is a tipping vase warning us of further consequences of letting this battle drag on.

"Alright, not bad, you're calm, but it's time to really get ourselves going." As a bird reveals its claws before a strike, we bring our left shoulder, bring us back facing chest-full towards the cloaked figure, raising our fist up near our head while the other holds our stance against the blade. The higher the hand rises, the more light it emits, culminating in a sphere of pure ignition at the peak and crashing down in an immeasurably small instant against the head of the robe. Our fist hits with the impact of a meteor. The breakneck collision cracks the seemingly undentable defense into pieces, the force sending its energy into the near area for all to feel. Gusts of fire and wind push out as we launch the foe from their feet into the air, revolving many times over before landing crudely in the crater's soil on their back. We smile at the immediate victory. "Hell yeah! That's what we're really capable of!" The stars seem to be shining a little bit brighter over the dark burn scar left of the cloth.

The figure struggles to get themselves back to their disciplined stance, stuttering movements as they occasionally drag back down. Recovering from the blow, they shift onto all fours before slowly lifting themselves back up, their back now slightly hunched and cloth wrinkled around the body. Despite having no face visible, the tense arms and staring hood show lingering aggression. "The only thing you've shown is a lack of restraint. I did not assume you would be so bold, but if so, I guess I'll just have to do the same as well. I have what I need already, but now I might as well leave you with a message." The figure crouches down with the scaled blade tight near the waist, like a wild cat readying a bombarding raid against its prey. The wind seems to freeze in anticipation for the next clash, our mind gradually filling with mist as the certainty of the moment further clouds judgment. Shock and adrenaline fill our body, forcing the instinctive drift of our eyes as sudden dash flings at us. What seems like a charging collision stops halfway as the dark sword penetrates the earth, its holder voluntarily interrupting their assault and drifting calmly against the soil. Leaving no chance to think, it again repeats its behavior, changing directions to our right and moving just as swiftly, if not slightly quicker by now. When the blade strikes the ground, we are facing them for a second before we are once again forced to turn right once more. They repeat the pattern a dozen times more, in a different direction and angle each time. It becomes like watching an artist paint with aimless strokes, yet their hands elegantly drifting across the canvas. Forced to defend against shuffling cards, we can either hope that our eyes and hands are able to catch the attack or gamble on a prediction, neither of which is an ideal situation for a fight.

The white image of the cloth rests once again, but this time its feet lay on the earth just a bit longer, a small irregularity acting as enough light to clear the thick fog of her tactic. Instead of choosing a side to rush, the figure brings its body forward with charging horns. Our judgment gives us the necessary time to ready our blade, swinging the blade up forward with a hectic pace. What should have been a direct strike utilizing the speed of the enemy to our advantage has been left only to fight the empty air. Our foe has stopped just short of the metal's verge, having whirled their leg above their waist and trusted it back into the ground in a slam. We can already feel a smoldering intensity as they bring their elbow back. With a violent roar, they thrust the peak scales at our exposed chest. The tip gathers volume of searing ferocity, our eyes forced shut as energy combust straight into us. The dark flames surround our entire body, filling us with frizzling heat stinging every bone and across all our skin. The power only builds in time, launching us straight into the air, far past the height of the crater as the explosion expands in its last breath before quickly fizzling out. Slowing down, gravity pulls us back down in increasing speed, suffering the hard impact of the landing while bouncing back up for another landing.

"You should not have been so confident of victory so early on. You seem to have a habit of getting into fights with things far beyond your size." Holding both their hands onto their sword, small flames surround and twirl about the scales, joined by an increasing amount after every rotation, combining into grander masses while building momentum.

Now is not the time to be stationary, but by both the mental and physical shock from the blast, our instincts are lagging and movements chained by burning stress. In the time it takes us to raise up from our feet, the flames ahead of us strengthen, now coating the entirety of the sword. At this point, approaching the flame will only be jumping into the dissolving stomach of the beast. The only choices are to hope to outrun any pursuit or to defy this power with our own. Never one to give up so easily and with two people here with us, the first thought remains only that, a thought. Our feet take a stance while we raise our blade, forming similar, yet brimming in color, spirits of fire. Even if we were developing ourselves twice as fast, they would have the advantage of reaching the point of fatality earlier, it's blinding radiance taunting us with wicked eyes of that fact.

Luckily for us, we don't only need to rely on us speeding up, but the possibility of them slowing down as well, and we get just that kind of hope by surrounding forces.

"Fairize!" Two voices shout. It's undoubtedly the two people who are both unwilling to simply stand around in battle, no matter the situation. Although it may seem like the balance tips more towards a dooming fate the longer it takes for someone to recover, this situation has dropped the favor right into our palms. Our assailant may have been dancing around with their dark flames confidently with the idea that their fire would turn our existence to ashes before our companions could recover, but now they've placed themselves between house-burning fire and a soaring cliff. They'll either have to forfeit our race or hope to brace themselves through a thundering storm.

"Well Bahus, it's now or nothing," Harley shouts, covered in metals matching a similar pallet of her own outfit, strapped with heavy rifles on the hands and gear-like shape on her back. She extends her hands out aimed straight. Leaving no more time for bracing an attack, Harley unleashes a swarm of lighting fast bullets onto the entirety of the cloak, tearing some holes into the surprisingly resilient sheet and creating a visible splash of impact upon contact. Deterred, the dark flames gather around the blade sluggishly, but still cooperate with wincing wielder. Now, at the sign of hope, is the time to push ourselves further. We let the energy flow into our arms and around us, soothing and stinging in a contradictory rhythm. Now our flames dance around with 5 times the passion, swinging swiftly and numerously around the metal.

Amongst the raging bangs and roaring heat are whooshing waves. Tiara holds her lengthy glaive above her head, currents of water orbiting its head. She is equipped with the transformation's signature equipment, the hard casting forming a tilted ring from her thighs to above her body, and horn-like headgear. With a shout she flings her arm forward while twisting the other one in a flinging motion, releasing razor-sharp twin discs of weaponized liquid. They travel in an alternating and twisting path. The discs accelerate greatly as they approach the flames. The water engages with the dark swirls for dominance. The discs evaporate into a light and rising smoke, but not without soothing the blade's rage, tearing holes into the pillar and leaving the surface of the blade visible. The pillar is now only a docile cub compared to the thundering titan ahead of it. "Fang!" shouts Tiara! "Now!"

As we rise the uphill battle, we stare into the gold platform of victory, only a leap away, yet gusts blowback on us, reminding us that if we cannot reach our goal, we'll certainly be left to fall into despair. Now, however, is no time to hesitate. The blaze condenses into itself, growing progressively brighter. Our hands snap the final cuffs of our limitations and we embrace the immense peak of our strength. The rugged heat transforms into a proficient and pure light radiating energy from itself, a blessing from the Goddess herself. "You wanted to see our power, didn't you! Then here it is!" We shout. Accompanied by a large roar, we swing into the ground, geysers of light erupting straight towards the dark flames and their summoner. The jets of bursting light engulf all ahead of us, towering straight past the clouds and into space. Blinding energy engulfs and overwhelms even the vivid darkness of the scales. swarming our vision with pure white as the light strengthens further. Even separated from direct contact, tingling sensations surround every part of our body with sensations of the alarming power. The lights show little mercy, dominating all in its path, even that past the tip of our battlefield crater, but luckily out of the location of our friends. Its power increases until it slowly seems to reach a peak, ending itself with a magnificent explosion of absolutely blinding radiance and surging repulsion.

The sensations disappear, and our eyes, somewhat tainted, are free to examine the results of this last stand. We three are still standing, but laying on its side is the hooded mystery, or at least they would have been hooded if not for the hood being blasted off of their head. We examine the laying person to see if we had truly been successful in our attempt, but we gain more info than we intended. Under the hood is somebody with soft skin and long hair, undoubtedly a girl as the voice had advised. Our eyes attempt to scan the details further before the still cloaked arms cover her face and as she rises. She reaches for the blade that had been stumped into the ground, arms shaking greatly in the struggle to lift. A sudden dread of another battle haunts us for a bit, but her weak legs and poor stance show that she is in no condition to fight. "Failure" is the last whimper of her voice before she gathers the last of her strength to dash away.

Fang and I lift a foot to begin a pursuit, but a jolt of pain rings throughout the limb from burning pressure and exhaustion. and we fall straight to the ground. Our connection cannot hold by fatigue as it does with passion, and I once again reappear in my own image while Fang loses the shiny armor. Both of us fall to the ground and our recently all-white vision now fades into black.

A/N: This chapter was a lot longer than the others. I made sure to look through and proofread the chapter. I feel as though I may be missing something or someway I used to write, but hopefully this is satisfactory. Anyways, criticism is always appreciated especially telling of what you like/dislike specifically but any criticism is enough to be grateful for.


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